The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1

[[Vol. 1, Page 25]]

COSMIC EVOLUTION.

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SEVEN STANZAS TRANSLATED WITH COMMENTARIES
FROM THE
SECRET BOOK OF DZYAN.

[[Vol. 1, Page 26]]

Nor Aught nor Nought existed; yon bright sky
Was not, nor heaven's broad roof outstretched above.
What covered all? what sheltered? what concealed?
Was it the water's fathomless abyss?
There was not death -- yet there was nought immortal,
There was no confine betwixt day and night;
The only One breathed breathless by itself,
Other than It there nothing since has been.
Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled
In gloom profound -- an ocean without light --
The germ that still lay covered in the husk
Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat.

. . . . . . . .

Who knows the secret? who proclaimed it here?
Whence, whence this manifold creation sprang?
The Gods themselves came later into being --
Who knows from whence this great creation sprang?
That, whence all this great creation came,
Whether Its will created or was mute,
The Most High Seer that is in highest heaven,
He knows it -- or perchance even He knows not."

"Gazing into eternity . . .
Ere the foundations of the earth were laid,

. . . . .

Thou wert. And when the subterranean flame
Shall burst its prison and devour the frame . . .
Thou shalt be still as Thou wert before
And knew no change, when time shall be no more.
Oh! endless thought, divine ETERNITY."

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 27 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

COSMIC EVOLUTION.

In Seven Stanzas translated from the Book of Dzyan.

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STANZA I.

1. THE ETERNAL PARENT WRAPPED IN HER EVER INVISIBLE
ROBES HAD SLUMBERED ONCE AGAIN FOR SEVEN ETERNITIES.

2. TIME WAS NOT, FOR IT LAY ASLEEP IN THE INFINITE
BOSOM OF DURATION.

3. UNIVERSAL MIND WAS NOT, FOR THERE WERE NO
AH-HI TO CONTAIN IT.

4. THE SEVEN WAYS TO BLISS WERE NOT. THE
GREAT CAUSES OF MISERY WERE NOT, FOR THERE WAS NO ONE TO PRODUCE
AND GET ENSNARED BY THEM.

5. DARKNESS ALONE FILLED THE BOUNDLESS ALL, FOR
FATHER, MOTHER AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD NOT
AWAKENED YET FOR THE NEW WHEEL, AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON.

6. THE SEVEN SUBLIME LORDS AND THE SEVEN TRUTHS
HAD CEASED TO BE, AND THE UNIVERSE, THE SON OF
NECESSITY, WAS IMMERSED IN PARANISHPANNA,
TO BE OUTBREATHED BY THAT WHICH IS AND YET IS NOT. NAUGHT
WAS.

7. THE CAUSES OF EXISTENCE HAD BEEN DONE AWAY
WITH; THE VISIBLE THAT WAS, AND THE INVISIBLE THAT IS, RESTED
IN ETERNAL NON-BEING -- THE ONE BEING.

8. ALONE THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED
BOUNDLESS, INFINITE, CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP; AND LIFE PULSATED
UNCONSCIOUS IN UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH
IS SENSED BY THE OPENED EYE OF THE DANGMA.

9. BUT WHERE WAS THE DANGMA
WHEN THE ALAYA OF THE UNIVERSE WAS IN PARAMARTHA
AND THE GREAT WHEEL WAS ANUPADAKA?

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 28 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

STANZA II.

1. . . . WHERE WERE THE BUILDERS, THE LUMINOUS
SONS OF MANVANTARIC DAWN? . . . IN
THE UNKNOWN DARKNESS IN THEIR AH-HI PARANISHPANNA.
THE PRODUCERS OF FORM FROM NO-FORM -- THE ROOT OF THE WORLD --
THE DEVAMATRI AND SVABHAVAT,
RESTED IN THE BLISS OF NON-BEING.

3. THE HOUR HAD NOT YET STRUCK; THE RAY HAD NOT
YET FLASHED INTO THE GERM; THE MATRIPADMA
HAD NOT YET SWOLLEN.

4. HER HEART HAD NOT YET OPENED FOR THE ONE RAY
TO ENTER, THENCE TO FALL, AS THREE INTO FOUR, INTO THE LAP OF
MAYA.

5. THE SEVEN SONS WERE NOT YET BORN FROM THE
WEB OF LIGHT. DARKNESS ALONE WAS FATHER-MOTHER,
SVABHAVAT; AND SVABHAVAT WAS
IN DARKNESS.

6. THESE TWO ARE THE GERM, AND
THE GERM IS ONE. THE UNIVERSE
WAS STILL CONCEALED IN THE DIVINE THOUGHT AND
THE DIVINE BOSOM. . . .

-------

STANZA III.

1. . . . THE LAST VIBRATION OF THE SEVENTH ETERNITY
THRILLS THROUGH INFINITUDE. THE MOTHER SWELLS,
EXPANDING FROM WITHIN WITHOUT, LIKE THE BUD OF THE LOTUS.

2. THE VIBRATION SWEEPS ALONG, TOUCHING WITH
ITS SWIFT WING THE WHOLE UNIVERSE AND THE GERM THAT DWELLETH IN
DARKNESS: THE DARKNESS THAT BREATHES OVER THE
SLUMBERING WATERS OF LIFE. . .

3. DARKNESS RADIATES LIGHT, AND LIGHT DROPS ONE
SOLITARY RAY INTO THE MOTHER-DEEP. THE RAY SHOOTS
THROUGH THE VIRGIN EGG, THE RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL,
AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL GERM, WHICH CONDENSES INTO THE WORLD-EGG.

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 29 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

4. THEN THE THREE FALL INTO THE FOUR. THE
RADIANT ESSENCE BECOMES SEVEN INSIDE, SEVEN OUTSIDE. THE
LUMINOUS EGG, WHICH IN ITSELF IS THREE, CURDLES AND SPREADS IN
MILK-WHITE CURDS THROUGHOUT THE DEPTHS OF MOTHER, THE ROOT THAT
GROWS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN OF LIFE.

5. THE ROOT REMAINS, THE LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS
REMAIN, AND STILL OEAOHOO IS ONE.

6. THE ROOT OF LIFE WAS IN EVERY DROP OF THE
OCEAN OF IMMORTALITY, AND THE OCEAN WAS RADIANT LIGHT, WHICH WAS
FIRE, AND HEAT, AND MOTION. DARKNESS VANISHED
AND WAS NO MORE; IT DISAPPEARED IN ITS OWN ESSENCE, THE BODY OF
FIRE AND WATER, OR FATHER AND MOTHER.

7. BEHOLD, OH LANOO! THE
RADIANT CHILD OF THE TWO, THE UNPARALLELED REFULGENT GLORY: BRIGHT
SPACE SON OF DARK
SPACE, WHICH EMERGES FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT
DARK WATERS. IT IS OEAOHOO THE
YOUNGER, THE * * * HE SHINES FORTH AS THE SON;
HE IS THE BLAZING DIVINE DRAGON
OF WISDOM; THE ONE IS FOUR,
AND FOUR TAKES TO ITSELF THREE,**
AND THE UNION PRODUCES THE SAPTA,
IN WHOM ARE THE SEVEN WHICH BECOME THE TRIDASA
(OR THE HOSTS AND THE MULTITUDES). BEHOLD HIM
LIFTING THE VEIL AND UNFURLING IT FROM EAST TO WEST. HE
SHUTS OUT THE ABOVE, AND LEAVES THE BELOW TO BE SEEN AS THE GREAT
ILLUSION. HE MARKS THE PLACES FOR THE SHINING
ONES, AND TURNS THE UPPER INTO A SHORELESS SEA OF FIRE, AND THE
ONE MANIFESTED INTO THE GREAT WATERS.

8. WHERE WAS THE GERM AND WHERE WAS NOW DARKNESS?
WHERE IS THE SPIRIT OF THE FLAME THAT BURNS IN
THY LAMP, OH LANOO? THE GERM
IS THAT, AND THAT IS LIGHT, THE WHITE BRILLIANT SON OF THE DARK
HIDDEN FATHER.

9. LIGHT IS COLD FLAME, AND FLAME IS FIRE, AND
FIRE PRODUCES HEAT, WHICH YIELDS WATER: THE WATER OF LIFE IN THE
GREAT MOTHER.

10. FATHER-MOTHER SPIN A WEB
WHOSE UPPER END IS FASTENED TO SPIRIT -- THE LIGHT OF THE ONE
DARKNESS -- AND THE LOWER ONE TO ITS SHADOWY END, MATTER; AND
THIS WEB IS THE UNIVERSE SPUN OUT OF THE TWO SUBSTANCES MADE IN
ONE, WHICH IS SVABHAVAT.

[[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------------------------

** In the English translation from the Sanskrit the numbers are
given in that language, Eka, Chatur, etc., etc. It was
thought best to give them in English.

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 30 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

11. IT EXPANDS WHEN THE BREATH OF FIRE IS UPON
IT; IT CONTRACTS WHEN THE BREATH OF THE MOTHER TOUCHES IT. THEN
THE SONS DISSOCIATE AND SCATTER, TO RETURN INTO THEIR MOTHER'S
BOSOM AT THE END OF THE GREAT DAY, AND RE-BECOME ONE WITH HER;
WHEN IT IS COOLING IT BECOMES RADIANT, AND THE SONS EXPAND AND
CONTRACT THROUGH THEIR OWN SELVES AND HEARTS; THEY EMBRACE INFINITUDE.

12. THEN SVABHAVAT SENDS FOHAT
TO HARDEN THE ATOMS. EACH IS A PART OF THE WEB.
REFLECTING THE "SELF-EXISTENT
LORD" LIKE A MIRROR, EACH BECOMES IN TURN
A WORLD.

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STANZA IV.

1. . . . LISTEN, YE SONS OF
THE EARTH, TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS -- THE SONS
OF THE FIRE. LEARN, THERE IS
NEITHER FIRST NOR LAST, FOR ALL IS ONE: NUMBER ISSUED FROM NO
NUMBER.

2. LEARN WHAT WE WHO DESCEND FROM THE PRIMORDIAL
SEVEN, WE WHO ARE BORN FROM THE PRIMORDIAL
FLAME, HAVE LEARNT FROM OUR FATHERS. . . .

3. FROM THE EFFULGENCY OF LIGHT -- THE RAY OF
THE EVER-DARKNESS -- SPRUNG IN SPACE THE RE-AWAKENED ENERGIES;
THE ONE FROM THE EGG, THE SIX, AND THE FIVE. THEN
THE THREE, THE ONE, THE FOUR, THE ONE, THE FIVE -- THE TWICE SEVEN
THE SUM TOTAL. AND THESE ARE THE ESSENCES, THE
FLAMES, THE ELEMENTS, THE BUILDERS, THE NUMBERS, THE ARUPA, THE
RUPA, AND THE FORCE OF DIVINE MAN
-- THE SUM TOTAL. AND FROM THE DIVINE MAN EMANATED THE FORMS,
THE SPARKS, THE SACRED ANIMALS, AND THE MESSENGERS OF THE SACRED
FATHERS WITHIN THE HOLY FOUR.

4. THIS WAS THE ARMY OF THE VOICE -- THE DIVINE
MOTHER OF THE SEVEN. THE SPARKS OF THE SEVEN
ARE SUBJECT TO, AND THE SERVANTS OF, THE FIRST, THE SECOND, THE
THIRD, THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH, THE SIXTH, AND THE SEVENTH OF THE
SEVEN. THESE "SPARKS" ARE CALLED SPHERES,
TRIANGLES, CUBES, LINES, AND MODELLERS; FOR THUS STANDS THE ETERNAL
NIDANA -- THE OEAOHOO, WHICH
IS:

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 31 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

5. "DARKNESS" THE BOUNDLESS, OR THE
NO-NUMBER, ADI-NIDANA SVABHAVAT:
--

I. THE ADI-SANAT,
THE NUMBER, FOR HE IS ONE.

II. THE VOICE OF THE LORD SVABHAVAT,
THE NUMBERS, FOR HE IS ONE AND NINE.

III. THE "FORMLESS SQUARE."

AND THESE THREE ENCLOSED WITHIN THE
ARE THE SACRED FOUR; AND THE TEN ARE THE ARUPA UNIVERSE. THEN
COME THE "SONS," THE SEVEN FIGHTERS, THE ONE, THE EIGHTH
LEFT OUT, AND HIS BREATH WHICH IS THE LIGHT-MAKER.

6. THEN THE SECOND SEVEN, WHO ARE THE LIPIKA,
PRODUCED BY THE THREE. THE REJECTED SON IS ONE.
THE "SON-SUNS" ARE
COUNTLESS.

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STANZA V.

1. THE PRIMORDIAL SEVEN,
THE FIRST SEVEN BREATHS
OF THE DRAGON OF WISDOM, PRODUCE
IN THEIR TURN FROM THEIR HOLY CIRCUMGYRATING
BREATHS THE FIERY WHIRLWIND.

2. THEY MAKE OF HIM THE MESSENGER OF THEIR WILL.
THE DZYU BECOMES FOHAT,
THE SWIFT SON OF THE DIVINE SONS WHOSE SONS ARE
THE LIPIKA, RUNS CIRCULAR ERRANDS. FOHAT
IS THE STEED AND THE THOUGHT IS THE RIDER. HE
PASSES LIKE LIGHTNING THROUGH THE FIERY CLOUDS; TAKES THREE, AND
FIVE, AND SEVEN STRIDES THROUGH THE SEVEN REGIONS ABOVE, AND THE
SEVEN BELOW. HE LIFTS HIS VOICE, AND CALLS THE
INNUMERABLE SPARKS, AND JOINS THEM.

3. HE IS THEIR GUIDING SPIRIT AND LEADER. WHEN
HE COMMENCES WORK, HE SEPARATES THE SPARKS OF THE LOWER
KINGDOM THAT FLOAT AND THRILL WITH JOY IN THEIR
RADIANT DWELLINGS, AND FORMS THEREWITH THE GERMS OF WHEELS. HE
PLACES THEM IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, AND ONE IN THE MIDDLE
-- THE CENTRAL WHEEL.

4. FOHAT TRACES SPIRAL LINES TO UNITE THE SIXTH
TO THE SEVENTH -- THE CROWN; AN ARMY OF THE SONS
OF LIGHT STANDS AT EACH ANGLE, AND THE LIPIKA
IN THE MIDDLE WHEEL, THEY SAY: THIS
IS GOOD, THE

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 32 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

FIRST DIVINE WORLD IS READY, THE FIRST IS NOW
THE SECOND. THEN THE "DIVINE
ARUPA" REFLECTS ITSELF IN CHHAYA
LOKA, THE FIRST GARMENT OF THE ANUPADAKA.

5. FOHAT TAKES FIVE STRIDES AND BUILDS A WINGED
WHEEL AT EACH CORNER OF THE SQUARE, FOR THE FOUR HOLY ONES AND
THEIR ARMIES.

6. THE LIPIKA CIRCUMSCRIBE THE
TRIANGLE, THE FIRST ONE, THE CUBE, THE SECOND ONE, AND THE PENTACLE
WITHIN THE EGG. IT IS THE RING CALLED "PASS
NOT" FOR THOSE WHO DESCEND AND ASCEND. ALSO
FOR THOSE WHO DURING THE KALPA ARE PROGRESSING
TOWARDS THE GREAT DAY "BE WITH US."
THUS WERE FORMED THE RUPA AND
THE ARUPA: FROM ONE LIGHT SEVEN LIGHTS; FROM
EACH OF THE SEVEN, SEVEN TIMES SEVEN LIGHTS. THE
WHEELS WATCH THE RING. . . . .

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STANZA VI.

1. BY THE POWER OF THE MOTHER
OF MERCY AND KNOWLEDGE -- KWAN-YIN
-- THE "TRIPLE" OF KWAN-SHAI-YIN,
RESIDING IN KWAN-YIN-TIEN, FOHAT,
THE BREATH OF THEIR PROGENY,
THE SON OF THE SONS, HAVING
CALLED FORTH, FROM THE LOWER ABYSS, THE ILLUSIVE FORM OF SIEN-TCHANG
AND THE SEVEN ELEMENTS:*

2. THE SWIFT AND RADIANT
ONE PRODUCES THE SEVEN LAYA
CENTRES, AGAINST WHICH NONE WILL PREVAIL TO THE
GREAT DAY "BE-WITH-US,"
AND SEATS THE UNIVERSE ON THESE ETERNAL
FOUNDATIONS SURROUNDING TSIEN-TCHAN
WITH THE ELEMENTARY GERMS.

3. OF THE SEVEN -- FIRST ONE
MANIFESTED, SIX CONCEALED, TWO MANIFESTED, FIVE CONCEALED; THREE
MANIFESTED, FOUR CONCEALED; FOUR PRODUCED, THREE HIDDEN; FOUR
AND ONE TSAN REVEALED, TWO AND ONE HALF CONCEALED; SIX TO BE MANIFESTED,
ONE LAID ASIDE. LASTLY, SEVEN SMALL WHEELS REVOLVING;
ONE GIVING BIRTH TO THE OTHER.

[[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------------------------

* Verse 1 of Stanza VI. is of a far later date than the other
Stanzas, though still very ancient. The old text of this verse,
having names entirely unknown to the Orientalists would give no
clue to the student.

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 33 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

4. HE BUILDS THEM IN THE LIKENESS OF OLDER WHEELS,
PLACING THEM ON THE IMPERISHABLE CENTRES.

HOW DOES FOHAT BUILD THEM? HE
COLLECTS THE FIERY DUST. HE MAKES BALLS OF FIRE,
RUNS THROUGH THEM, AND ROUND THEM, INFUSING LIFE THEREINTO THEN'
SETS THEM INTO MOTION; SOME ONE WAY, SOME THE OTHER WAY. THEY
ARE COLD, HE MAKES THEM HOT. THEY ARE DRY, HE
MAKES THEM MOIST. THEY SHINE, HE FANS AND COOLS
THEM. THUS ACTS FOHAT FROM ONE
TWILIGHT TO THE OTHER, DURING SEVEN ETERNITIES.

5. AT THE FOURTH, THE SONS ARE TOLD TO CREATE
THEIR IMAGES. ONE THIRD REFUSES -- TWO OBEY.

THE CURSE IS PRONOUNCED; THEY WILL BE BORN ON
THE FOURTH, SUFFER AND CAUSE SUFFERING; THIS IS THE FIRST WAR.

6. THE OLDER WHEELS ROTATED DOWNWARDS AND UPWARDS.
. . . THE MOTHER'S SPAWN FILLED THE WHOLE. THERE
WERE BATTLES FOUGHT BETWEEN THE CREATORS AND
THE DESTROYERS, AND BATTLES FOUGHT FOR SPACE;
THE SEED APPEARING AND RE-APPEARING CONTINUOUSLY.

7. MAKE THY CALCULATIONS, LANOO,
IF THOU WOULDEST LEARN THE CORRECT AGE OF THY SMALL WHEEL. ITS
FOURTH SPOKE IS OUR MOTHER. REACH THE FOURTH
"FRUIT" OF THE FOURTH PATH OF KNOWLEDGE THAT LEADS TO
NIRVANA, AND THOU SHALT COMPREHEND, FOR THOU
SHALT SEE . . . . .

-------

STANZA VII.

1. BEHOLD THE BEGINNING OF SENTIENT FORMLESS
LIFE.

FIRST THE DIVINE, THE ONE FROM
THE MOTHER-SPIRIT; THEN THE
SPIRITUAL; THE THREE FROM THE ONE, THE FOUR FROM
THE ONE, AND THE FIVE FROM WHICH THE THREE, THE FIVE, AND THE
SEVEN. THESE ARE THE THREE-FOLD, THE FOUR-FOLD
DOWNWARD; THE "MIND-BORN" SONS OF THE FIRST LORD;
THE SHINING SEVEN.

IT IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH LANOO.
THEY, WHO WATCH OVER THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH.

[[Vol. 1, Page]] 34 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

2. THE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE SMALLER RAYS. LIFE
PRECEDES FORM, AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM OF FORM. THROUGH
THE COUNTLESS RAYS PROCEEDS THE LIFE-RAY, THE ONE, LIKE A THREAD
THROUGH MANY JEWELS.

3. WHEN THE ONE BECOMES TWO, THE THREEFOLD APPEARS,
AND THE THREE ARE ONE; AND IT IS OUR THREAD, OH LANOO,
THE HEART OF THE MAN-PLANT CALLED SAPTASARMA.

4. IT IS THE ROOT THAT NEVER DIES; THE THREE-TONGUED
FLAME OF THE FOUR WICKS. THE WICKS ARE THE SPARKS,
THAT DRAW FROM THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME SHOT OUT BY THE SEVEN --
THEIR FLAME -- THE BEAMS AND SPARKS OF ONE MOON REFLECTED IN THE
RUNNING WAVES OF ALL THE RIVERS OF EARTH.

5. THE SPARK HANGS FROM THE FLAME BY THE FINEST
THREAD OF FOHAT. IT JOURNEYS
THROUGH THE SEVEN WORLDS OF
MAYA. IT STOPS IN THE FIRST,
AND IS A METAL AND A STONE; IT PASSES INTO THE SECOND AND BEHOLD
-- A PLANT; THE PLANT WHIRLS THROUGH SEVEN CHANGES AND BECOMES
A SACRED ANIMAL. FROM THE COMBINED ATTRIBUTES
OF THESE, MANU, THE THINKER IS FORMED. WHO
FORMS HIM? THE SEVEN LIVES, AND THE ONE LIFE.
WHO COMPLETES HIM? THE FIVE-FOLD
LHA. AND WHO PERFECTS THE LAST
BODY? FISH, SIN, AND SOMA. . . . .

6. FROM THE FIRST-BORN THE THREAD BETWEEN THE
SILENT WATCHER AND HIS SHADOW
BECOMES MORE STRONG AND RADIANT WITH EVERY CHANGE. THE
MORNING SUN-LIGHT HAS CHANGED INTO NOON-DAY GLORY. . . . .

7. THIS IS THY PRESENT WHEEL, SAID THE FLAME
TO THE SPARK. THOU ART MYSELF,
MY IMAGE, AND MY SHADOW. I HAVE CLOTHED MYSELF
IN THEE, AND THOU ART MY VAHAN TO THE DAY, "BE
WITH US," WHEN THOU SHALT RE-BECOME MYSELF AND OTHERS, THYSELF
AND ME. THEN THE BUILDERS, HAVING DONNED THEIR
FIRST CLOTHING, DESCEND ON RADIANT EARTH AND REIGN OVER MEN --
WHO ARE THEMSELVES. . . .

Thus ends this portion of the archaic narrative, dark, confused,
almost incomprehensible. An attempt will now be made to throw
light into this darkness, to make sense out of this apparent NON-SENSE.